Petaling Jaya's New Town, otherwise known as PJ State, is set to be transformed into a lively world-class commercial district.

The site of the current headquarters of PKNS, or Selangor State Development Corporation (and the adjacent site of Department of Veterinary) in Section 52 will make way for a RM3 billion integrated development called PJ Sentral Garden City.

The plan is for a mixed development that includes commercial, retail, serviced apartments, hotel and office towers surrounded by gardens and recreational facilities.

According to the master developer Gapurna Group, the aim of this project is to revitalise the ageing Petaling Jaya city centre.

Wehn completed, PJ Sentral Garden City would have three accesses namely from Jalan Barat, Jalan Sultan and Persiaran Barat.

Phase One of the project covers the construction of Office Tower 1 and infrastructure at Lot 8.

Phase Two covers a podium for retail and restaurants, Office Tower 2, 3 and 4 as well as infrastructure on Lot 12.

On Lot 12, under Phase Three, there will be the construction of a business hotel and infrastructure.

Phase Four will see the construction of service apartments, a landscaped central park and related infrastructures — also on Lot 12.

The megaproject — poised to transform the area into Petaling Jaya’s Central Business District (CBD) — is estimated to take up to 10 years to complete.

All buildings planned here are expected to be environment-friendly, with adherence to Green Building Index and other international requirements.

Over the past weeks, traffic congestions and public transportation are amongst the issues raised by residents of nearby neighbourhoods.

It was reported that the developer had also proposed a traffic dispersal system aimed at easing the bottlenecks at Jalan Barat and Jalan Templer, such as new alternate routes linking directly to existing highways such as the Federal Highway and the New Pantai Expressway.